Potchefstroom (South Africa), Feb.20 (ANI): Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin believes that batting prodigy Phillip Hughes will be a huge success on the current tour of South Africa and beyond.

Haddin knows Hughes better than any other Australian player and predicts immediate success for his 20-year-old NSW teammate because of his ability.

“He’s one of those players who comes along every now and again that no matter what age they are, the situation of the game or the quality of the opposition just doesn’t seem to faze them,” Haddin said.

“He’s just one of those guys who, at a young age, just knows how to score runs. It can take a long time to work your game out but for guys like him, it comes quickly. I don’t think I worked my game out until I was about 25. He’s just one of those rare guys who doesn’t over-complicate things and doesn’t get flustered. When I was 20, I was getting flustered,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.

“He’s a great person to have around the group. He’s a quiet guy but just a great bloke. He’s got a lovely close-knit family. He’s a good kid and a tough competitor. He just bats the same way whoever he’s facing. It’s a big day for him. I think he’ll go more than all right,” Haddin added.

Australia play a third-string South African Board President’s XI in a three-day contest starting today. The first Test starts in Johannesburg on Thursday. Hughes is under no pressure in the practice game because his Test place is assured.

Haddin has observed Hughes’s meteoric rise from NSW rookie to the Test XI from close quarters. He shakes his head when talking about the unflappable temperament of his Blues teammate. And Haddin suspects his adjustment to Test cricket will be seamless.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be at NSW with him since he started,” Haddin said. “He fitted in beautifully at the Blues, and it’s been the same here.

“You know, he just goes about his business. No matter what, he just performs. That’s what Test cricket is about. It doesn’t matter if you’re having a big high or going through a bad patch, you have to try to keep yourself at the same level mentally. He already does that. The last Sheffield Shield game he played, when he got his hundred and his 80, he had pressure on him then. There was a lot of talk about him making this tour if he made runs, but none of it bothered him. He just did the same old thing, scored runs,” Haddin said. (ANI)